Crabtree is injuried won't workout

**Nick** · -02-21-2009

Crabtree will still run at Pro Day
Posted: Adam Schefter

Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree and his advisers have decided to hold off on any surgery for the slight stress fracture in his left foot until after his March 26 Pro Day, those close to the player said Saturday. Crabtree is not feeling any pain in his foot and still wants to run the 40-yard dash for NFL coaches and scouts next month.

But Crabtree also is aware that, if the injury is aggravated in any way during his training process, then surgery would have to be performed right away and a screw will have to be inserted into his foot. Once surgery is performed, Crabtree would be expected to be sidelined about 10 weeks.

If he is able to hold off on the surgery until after his Pro Day, Crabtree then would miss his new team’s rookie minicamps and not return to action until mid-June. But those close to him expect that he will not have any issues being ready for training camp.

But for the time being, Crabtree will hold off on any surgery until after he runs two 40-yard dashes for NFL scouts and coaches. It is for Crabtree, at least for the time being, the most pressing business.

***Azul e Oro*** · -02-21-2009

I say we draft him. Just bunk him with Bennett during TC.

In a padded room. No sharp edges or hard surfaces.

***tdog08*** · -02-21-2009

He got it for working out for the combine, he will workout at pro day

***Azul e Oro*** · -02-21-2009

Yeah, I guess he shrank 1 & 5/8 inches while working out for The Combine as well...

Bbbbuuuut he has freakishly long arms !

And weak feet.

**Nick** · -02-22-2009

Texas Tech-ex Crabtree upset with report about foot injury
08:24 PM CST on Saturday, February 21, 2009
By RICK GOSSELIN / The Dallas Morning News
rgosselin@dallasnews.com

INDIANAPOLIS – The draft stock of two-time Biletnikoff Award winner Michael Crabtree took an apparent hit Saturday when his physical at the NFL scouting combine turned up a stress fracture in his left foot.

NFL sources said Crabtree, the former Texas Tech and Carter star, would need surgery to place a pin in his foot and would be sidelined for 10 weeks. That would put him out of action until early May – and the draft is April 25.

So Crabtree would not be able to provide NFL teams with a clocking in the 40-yard dash. NFL teams are paranoid about drafting a player without his full workout numbers – and speed is a minor concern about Crabtree.

But the Tech All-America bristled at the report. Crabtree said he did not plan to have surgery and that he planned on running a 40 at his private workout March 26.

"I don't know where that report came from," Crabtree said. "It [stress fracture] has been there for about a year and it's never caused me any pain. I can play with it the rest of my life. It won't stop me from running. I'm going to run."

Crabtree was rated as the best wide receiver in the 2009 draft and a potential top-5 pick. But his ability to run – and run fast – will determine how high he goes in the first round. One NFL observer said it is not a major setback.

"It's still very early in the process," Buffalo Bills vice president of personnel Tom Modrak said. "Those that really get a guy are when it's late, right before the draft, because then [NFL teams] don't have a chance to examine it close enough.

"But if you need additional medical information now, you have time to get it. You have time to satisfy yourself."

Others felt the stress fracture causes a red flag.

"He's not going to play any time soon, as I see it," Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith said. "It's not a career-ending injury or anything like that. He's a good football player. He has got plenty of time to get well. I don't think it'll hurt him a lot."

Crabtree played two seasons at Texas Tech before deciding to skip his final two seasons of eligibility to turn pro. He leaves Tech as the school's all-time leading receiver with 231 catches and ranks eighth in NCAA history with 41 touchdown receptions despite playing just 26 games.

This story just seems to get stranger with each update. So now he's had it for a year or more, and doesn't plan to ever get surgery on it?

If he's right in that it doesn't cause him pain or affect his level of play, maybe it's something he can hold off on. I dunno, that doesn't seem like a decision I'd be making without some extensive discussions with medical personnel. Maybe he's already had them...

**Nick** · -02-22-2009

So the Seattle Times has video on their website of Crabtree making a brief statement today, saying he's going to run at his pro day and then have the surgery. Video can be seen here.